Haircuts

On Saturday, the boys got haircuts.

Jonathan
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"I don't have to brush it and it is so short, I won't have to get another haircut for a while."

David
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"Um, well... I like it. I did decide to get it a little shorter this time."

Thomas
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"It's my style!"

[laughter]

Nonsense

Thomas and David accidentally collided. It was a serious head-butt that brought both boys to tears. 

After the tears stopped flowing, I tried lighthearted humor to make them smile.

Momma: "Did it knock some sense into you?"

Thomas: "No. It knocked nonsense into me!"

Elisabeth's birthday

Elisabeth turned five on November 17th. We had such fun celebrating her birthday, it would be a shame not to post any pictures.

Elisabeth chose to have a Care Bear themed birthday.

A few months before her birthday, our neighbor gave her a hand-me-down Care Bear. That's when her love of Care Bears was born. Not too long after that, we found we could record the Care Bears (it comes on TV during the wee hours of each Saturday morning).

Five is such a great age. It was super fun to watch her open presents! The boys were very excited for her.

I surprised her with a rainbow Care Bear cake. 

Elisabeth had her first friend birthday party on the night of her birthday at Pump it Up. She had blast (see Cyclone blast picture as evidence)! It was extra special to have Gran and Daddo there to celebrate. 

We had cupcakes at the party. 

Afterwards, Elsie was tired (and full) and she readily agreed to have her cake the next day.

Elsie's 5th birthday was almost as special she is... almost.

Be Nice

A week ago, Jonathan and Thomas were struggling to get along. If I said it once, I said it 50 times, "Be nice!" Inevitably, they had to be separated.
A little while later, Elisabeth gave Jonathan this picture.

"Jonathan saying nice things to Thomas"

Games

"A long time ago they had games way worse than Gameboys." 
David, age 9

Clothes!

This was startling to me. It caused me to pause and then smile...

A week ago, Elsie sat down to color and said,

"Momma, I am going to draw a picture of the clothes I want to get for my birthday."

When my boys received clothes as presents, they looked at them in disgust. I had to counsel them on reacting in a nice way. Elsie already knows what she wants to wear on her birthday. She even has her hair barrettes picked out! Her birthday is 9 days away.

David's 9th Birthday

On September 2, David turned 9. To celebrate, he wanted Avengers and Spiderman decorations. We had fun celebrating and being silly.

David has a good friend in Oregon that has a bow. When we visited over the summer, David had a chance to shoot and loved it. His biggest request was to get a bow for his birthday. Seth told him bows could be dangerous. He was surprised and delighted to get his bow.

Our Hawkeye

Captain America

Such a Nice Day

"Moon! Momma, look, there's the moom!" (Elisabeth)

"Oh... I see it."(Momma)

"Sometimes, it is such a nice day that the moon comes out." (Elisabeth)

17 Years

We celebrated our 17th Anniversary yesterday.

We didn't have a babysitter so we decided to take the whole family to Lake Tahoe for some outside fun. It was wonderful. We enjoyed sunny, warm weather at King's Beach. The kids played for hours in the sand and water, while Seth and I relaxed on a blanket on the beach. I finished reading a book. Seth took a nap. And, the kids just kept playing. I had a low key water fight with David. Seth built sand castles with the kids. We both helped Jonathan, Thomas and Elsie bury themselves in the sand. It was a delightfully fun and relaxed afternoon.

After our beach fun, we went to a local restaurant for dinner. Our kids were well-behaved. We felt so blessed.

We walked outside after dinner and took in the sight of moon over the lake. Next to the restaurant where we ate, there was a wedding reception taking place. The music was playing, the moon was shining, the kids were talking animatedly and walking toward the car. We captured the moment- and kissed.

It was a very good day.
 ~~~~~~~~~

The kids did not argue all day. Not once.
We stayed a long time. They didn't complain when it was time to go.

"I didn't know anniversaries could be fun." David (age 8)

"Happy Anniversary" Thomas (age 7)  He said this to us numerous times throughout the day and it was as sweet as could be.

Jonathan was the first of the kids to bury himself. The pictures of him buried in the sand are cute but I love this photo of him best.

"I am the sandman." Jonathan (age 11)


David was not about to cover himself in sand. He did have a blast knocking down a castle that some other people left behind.

Elisabeth wasn't still long but I caught this picture of her deep in thought.

Seth and I took a self-portrait with my cell phone:

Jonathan took this picture of us before dinner:

Our family at the end of dinner:

The moon over Lake Tahoe: